Amid financial realities, many organizations decide to cut positions to help the bottom line. Although seeming like a quick fix, such cuts can also be impulsive and misaligned with the company’s purpose and values. Particularly in times of crisis, companies should focus on retaining their top talent — employees who are high performers, critical to operations and devoted to the company’s mission. Here’s why.
1. You can count on top talent in a crisis.
When resources are lean and pressure is high, you want a dependable team. You want your most innovative minds crafting solutions. Sometimes top talent use unconventional methods. Instead of fearing change, see their contributions as the exact kind of change you need to stabilize and move toward thriving.
Top talent can see not only the present reality, but also where your industry is heading. They can create solutions to get you where you want to go and be incredibly resourceful with implementing those solutions.
Doing things the way you’ve always done them will almost always ensure the same results — namely, decline. If you want to change course, let top talent be part of the process. Don’t exploit their labor for your gain, and don’t recruit top talent expecting their enthusiastic subscription to your status quo. Give them freedom to try their ideas. And when your organization recovers, you’ll have cultivated exceptional bench strength for the future of your company.
2. Top talent deliver results.
Every team has its MVP. If you’re lucky, you have several. Most teams have dead weight, too, often retained because of fear of change or reprisal. While some employers may try to offload their highest-paid employees in crisis, it’s more important to evaluate your team by performance. In crisis, cut dead weight (underperformers), not your MVPs (top talent).
Top talent are likely identified as such because you know they can handle anything. Recall the scene from Apollo 13 where the technician dumps supplies on the table and says, “We gotta find a way to make this [a square peg] fit into the hole for this [a round hole] using nothing but that [objects already on the spacecraft].” Top talent are the people who can gather around the table, figure it out and get the job done. Top talent are the exact employees you want on your team in crisis.
3. Top talent get who you are and why you do what you do.
Recognize the value top talent bring to your organization. They know their marketability and that they have employment options. They have committed their energy and passion to your organization because they value what you do and why you do it. Purpose plus passion is invaluable.
Every business has seasons of increased workforce demands, ideally temporary and rare. Having employees who understand in their bones who you are and why you do what you do will make weathering these rough seasons possible, as they are innately able to connect their daily tasks to your greater purpose. They want to come to work every day to be part of something they believe in, something bigger than themselves. And, they are constantly inspiring others to join them. They reinforce your mission — why you do what you do — and motivate your team.
4. Top talent are high-performers, often doing the work of two or more full-time employees.
Leslie Knope from the NBC sitcom Parks and Rec is the quintessential overachiever. She does more work than anyone else in her department, perhaps combined, but she also motivates them to be and do their best. In a city budget crisis when an auditor suggests cutting her position, her boss quickly retorts, “If you fire Leslie, you might as well get rid of the whole department.”
Not only do these kinds of employees often do the tasks of two or more full-time positions, but they are infectiously positive members of the team. Top talent inspire others to rise to the occasion, work smarter and collaborate more effectively. They exponentially increase their value to your organization by inspiring the rest of the team toward greater results, driven by your purpose.
Yes, top talent can be high-maintenance employees, but your investment in them pales in comparison to their investment in your company.
5. Top talent often bring unique skills that are hard to replace.
One of the reasons that top talent so easily thrive is that they often come from interdisciplinary backgrounds or have successfully integrated their various experiences with unique insights and applications.
A computer scientist-turned-professor-turned-higher education administrator? While unconventional, that individual likely can bring qualitative and quantitative skills to their work, utilizing data analysis, market research, best practices and the latest in technological innovation to drive results, and they can fluently translate between constituencies. You’d easily need at least four different full-time positions to make up for the expertise of that one employee (developer, researcher, strategic planner, teacher/trainer, marketer, digital media specialist, UX specialist, etc.).
If your organization is lucky enough to have top talent with a wide variety of experiences, cultivate your relationships with and investment in those employees, as they have the kind of innovative problem-solving skills and insight you’ll need to overcome your present challenges and thrive in the future.
No one likes to be in a moment of crisis. Rather than seeing your highest performers as liabilities, value them as assets. They can think outside of the box, design and implement solutions, and motivate your team to weather the storm. They get who you are and why you do what you do. If you cut them, not only will you lose the incalculable value they bring to your team, but you will also face the possibility of them devoting their energy to a competitor. Know who your top talent are, and value what they bring to your team, particularly when you need to ensure results. There is always a positive ROI on top talent.
